The penultimate day’s racing provides the climbers with one last chance to gain time heading into tomorrow’s split stage. At 226.5km, it’s even longer than yesterday’s mammoth effort. In fact, this is the longest stage since the Tour of Britain was introduced, and is almost as long as a ‘monument’.

Then there are the climbs. Though the stage does not have an uphill finish, the difficulty of the climbs is likely to make today the most important since stage three. The category-two Beachy Head is followed by two consecutive category-one climbs (Ditchling Beacon and Bear Road), both tackled within the final 20km. These are bound to see attacks from riders seeking to move up in the general classification or who are anxious that their time trial isn’t good enough to maintain their placing.

The Bear Road climb is not as well-known as some of those earlier in the race, but it has been granted the crucial role as the final ascent of the race. Having been assigned as a category one climb, we can expect it to be hard.

Today will also see the conclusion of the King of the Mountains competition. With so many points available in one day, the stage is set for an exciting showdown that could see several riders still in contention.

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